Genesis 12-14

Call of Abraham
Jack Abeelen

25 years on border

1-11  2,000 years of history
God writes with prejudice and purpose.
Formation
Fall
Flood
Fallout

12-5  400 years  Abraham through three generations
descendants of Shem
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Joseph

testimony and testing of Abraham
take Isaac out, but Ishmael into sacrifice

Al' Kahlil--friend of God

Ur of Chaldeans--Ziggurats, university, royal cemetery, animists, worshiped moon God--Nana/Sin, "moonie"

Joshua 24
No indication that he turned from that
Chapter 11:28 last brother, life-changing event--Haran
Sarai--barren   Abram "exalted father"
women who were unable to bear children were cursed
superstition
15-44---12% of population inability to have children

3x's "Friend of God" NT
exulted father
father of many nations

God "had spoken" to Abram prior to this...stopped before they hit the desert.  Lived there for years until his father died--Terah.  Ur to Canaan 600 miles, Ur to Haran 600 miles then another 400 to Haran.

only Stephen mentions weakness in Abraham.  We also tend to excuse ourselves by our lack of abilities.

Haran--dry, parched
Terah--to delay

God says "I will, I will, I will...."
Sarai--argumentative, contentious
50% of world's Jews live in Israel, 6 million, 70 Billion budget, 24th economy, citrus, flowers,
"I will make of you a great nation" --God did it with a 75 year old guy who's not coming quickly.
13 million on planet, 7 Billion
25% nobel peace prize to Jews
Without the Jews, we have no Old Testament, no Messiah.

childhood marked by huge faith and huge doubts....so with Abraham

Hagar--young slave girl
Chapters 13 to 17  Abram and Lot intertwined, parallel and different lives

Money itself is neutral.  It depends upon how you are affected by it.
money---"the love of money" is the root of all evil.
You don't have to have it to let you be consumed by it.  You can have it and not be dominated by it.
extremes tend to settle with maturity
Do you have wealth or does your wealth have you?

He came out of Egypt with a lot more than he came in with---but he came out without Egypt in his heart.  In contrast, Lot came out being gripped by it. Cites 29 out of 30 of these lottery people say it brought more trouble.

Bethel--house of God  Ai--Heap of Ruin  That's kind of where we are...in between.

Abram goes back to the basics with God--we can always do so too.
Problems came from Egypt---arose out of "stuff" and grazing land. Lot and Abram led parallel

The founding father of our faith (Abraham) was off to a slow start which should encourage us; we don't always get out of the blocks.

Stopped in Sheckem (Nablus) Abraham stopped. Encounters God 7 times total.

Kids develop faith quickly, but they also doubt quickly...Abraham is growing by leaps and bounds, but the extremes tend to settle with maturity.

One of the key steps to continuing to grow is to be aware of God's presence.  He's with you.  You are hanging out with the God of the Universe.

"Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD." Genesis 13:4

Doesn't say here that Abram talked with God, just that he called on Him.

Lot and Abram
Lot and Abram began to have problems because of "stuff."  Division drives them apart because of stuff.  God can use division to further His plans. Paul and Silas, Paul and John Mark,

Lot--man of "sight," somewhat like Peter when he denied Christ. He was a  tag-along kind of guy.  Lot chose for himself, that's what the flesh does. Lot is a far away kind of guy. He doesn’t have any spiritual eyes.

Lot--not mentioned that he had an altar.  Thoughts dominated by flesh.  Dwelt in the cities of the plains.  Living in Sodom.  Chapter 19:1--ruling in the gates of Sodom.  Loses wife and children. Frustrated with Sodom but lives there anyway.

Abram--man of faith. Let God choose for him.
Trusting in God is never a raw deal.

v. 14 Abram alone again for first time in many years (alone as in away from Lot.) God makes His promises to Abram more specific.

Abraham was $$$, had 318 servants in his own house.

Appropriation of Faith
"First, look by faith; now, walk by faith. It’s an important issue in the Scriptures. We’ll run into it a lot, that one of the definitions of faith is an appropriation of what God has given. In other words, you’ve got to take what God says, and live it out. Right? If He says, “Don’t worry,” hey you ought to commit yourself, “I’m not going to worry.” And when you start worrying, go, “Lord, I’m sorry. I don’t want to worry. I trust You.” And reaffirm."

Abram as peacemaker
"Abram is a peacemaker in the Bible, not a troublemaker. He is slow to leave his father. He seeks peace with Lot as Lot goes down in a different direction. He makes peace with the people he lives with enough to be allies with them. And yet I would point out to you who are peaceniks, even men of peace sometimes have to fight to keep that peace, and there is no easier way out when there’s conflict than to all of a sudden become a pacifist. Get a “coexist” sign on your car. It sounds noble, it’s just not biblical. Abram loved peace enough, and his family enough, to fight for it. Francis Schaeffer, if you’ve been around as a Christian for any length of time, is kind of a modern-day thinker. He’s not with us anymore, but he wrote lots of books on philosophy and theology. He wrote on this idea of pacifism, “I am not a pacifist for this reason - to be a pacifist in a fallen, broken and evil world would mean I have to desert the people who need me the most.” I think Abram would have agreed with that."-JA

Melchizedek
"Here is a priest before the Levitical priesthood ever began. He comes out of nowhere. You don’t get an introduction – here he comes. There’s nobody going, “Check out the next chapter. There’s a guy there you’re going to want to meet!” Nothing. He just kind of pops up here as Abram returns. We will read nothing more about him for 1000 years. In 1000 years from now, as you go 1000 years historically in your Bible, you will come to David in Psalm 110, writing about the coming Messiah. And you will read in Psalm 110:4, “The Lord has sworn and will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek,’ ” speaking about the Messiah to come, that the Messiah’s relationship to the priesthood was going to go not through Levi, not through Aaron but through Melchizedek." -JA

"The question naturally becomes, then, who is this Melchizedek? And my answer to you is, I have no idea. Many folks teach that it is a theophany - that means an appearance of God in the Old Testament in some kind of human form. Or a Christophany, Christ in hidden form. There are good arguments for both." -JA


I like the fact that Abram is growing in his faith. “I don’t want any credit. I don’t want any honor. I just want to glorify the Lord. You don’t want to ever take any bows for the work of God.

Live by Faith not Sight, Pick the Tent
"So, Lot returns home. Now, you would have thought losing your goods and being in danger of losing your life, except for the intervention of your uncle again and the hand of God, would have taught him a lesson. It didn’t. He fails to learn that associating with the world can lead to your destruction. He goes right back to Sodom. Moves right back in. But look at Abram. He’s trusting the Lord. He’s walking by faith. He’s learning God is faithful to His Word. He’s begun to demonstrate to the nations, to the cities, to the kings around him, who God was - put Him on display. Be careful with your vision. Look up. Don’t look around. Abram was a fellow that came to learn this by experience. Lot, unfortunately, did not. And be careful, not only of your vision, but be careful of your values. Because Lot longed for the plains." -JA